1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a reciprocating motion platform for oscillating a subject in a back and forth, headward to footward manner in order to externally add pulses to the fluid channels of the subject. The external addition of pulses caused by the periodic acceleration of the subject results in many therapeutic benefits.
2. Description of the Related Art
This application builds on the work previously done in this field by Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems, Inc., located at 1666 Kennedy Causeway, Suite 400 in North Bay Village, Fla., as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,976 to Sackner et al. entitled “Reciprocating Movement Platform For Shifting Subject To and Fro in Headwards-Footwards Direction” (hereinafter referred to as the '976 patent) and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/967,422 written by the same inventors of the present application, entitled “External Addition of Pulses To Fluid Channels Of Body To Release Or Suppress Endothelial Mediators And To Determine Effectiveness Of Such Intervention” (hereinafter referred to as the '422 application). Both of the '976 patent and the '422 application are hereby incorporated by reference.
The '976 patent describes a reciprocating movement platform which can be used in medical treatments based on the external addition of pulses, whereas the '422 application is mainly concerned with describing various medical treatments based on the external addition of pulses. Although the present application builds on these two works, it is not limited by them.